The winger finished from close range in the first half after being set-up by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But Russian outfit Rostov equalised against the run of play early in the second period through Aleksandr Bukharov.

GETTY

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored Manchester United's opener

Jose Mourinho had expressed his concern at the state of the Olimp-2 Stadium's pitch in the build-up to the game and it deteriorated badly during the course of the clash - but Mkhitaryan insists it is no excuse.

Mkhitaryan told BT Sport: "We have tried to win, we have played as good as we could on this pitch.

Manchester United player ratings against Rostov

Thu, March 9, 2017

Express Sport rates how the Manchester United players performed during the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie against Rostov